Rowing World Converges on Harvard's Shores for 47th Head of the Charles

Spectators crowded the Anderson Bridge, located between Harvard's Newell and Weld Boathouses, to watch last year's Head of the Charles.

Oct 20, 2011

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—The marquee event of the fall rowing season takes place this weekend, as the Radcliffe and Harvard lightweight and heavyweight crews compete in the 47th Head Of The Charles Regatta, the world's largest two-day rowing event.

About the Regatta
A total of 8,868 athletes are scheduled to compete as part of 1,953 entries in this year's 61 HOCR events, all right on Harvard's doorstep. Those competitors will range from ages 14 to 84 and represent 34 states and 19 countries as they travel the three-mile, upstream course from the Boston University Boathouse to Artesani Park in Brighton.

The boats will cross under seven bridges on their way. The penultimate span is the Lars Anderson bridge, which connects Boston and Cambridge between Harvard's Weld and Newell Boathouses. Approximately 300,000 spectators and 1,400 volunteers are expected to be on hand to take in all the action.

Follow From Home
Live results and live video are available at the links above.

Harvard/Radcliffe at the 2011 HOCR
Current and former Harvard and Radcliffe athletes and coaches will compete as part of at least 27 different entries in this year's regatta. A full regatta schedule is available here. Below are the Harvard/Radcliffe entries as well as select alumni:

Alumni who are not listed, please let us know by emailing here, that you're competing.

History
The HOCR was first held on Oct. 16, 1965. The race was established by Cambridge Boat Club members D'Arcy MacMahon, Howard McIntyre and Jack Vincent, with the advice of Harvard sculling instructor Ernest Arlett. Arlett proposed that a "head-of-the-river" race similar in tradition to races held in his native England, be held on the Charles River. "Head" races, a class of regattas, are generally three miles long. Boats race against each other and the clock, starting sequentially approximately fifteen seconds apart. Winners of each race receive the honorary title of "Head of the River" or, in this case, "Head Of The Charles."

The first HOCR featured nearly 100 competitors, all in singles, and has grown consistently since. The 2011 edition features 36 more entries than last year and one more event than in 2010, the trunk/arms mixed double.

Championships
Harvard and Radcliffe teams have won 39 HOCR championships, a number that does not include student-athletes, coaches and alumni racing as individuals or representing their clubs and countries. The most recent title is the Crimson's championship in the club eights event last year, the third time in four years Harvard has won that race.

The Crimson has won the championship eights event twice, in 1969 and '77. The Harvard heavyweights placed second to Washington last year. Harvard has won the lightweights eights race five times and placed two boats among the top four finishers last year. Radcliffe won the championships eights title in 1973 and the lightweight fours crown in 2004. A full list of past winners is available here.

Last Season
With five top-four finishes, the Harvard men captured the MacMahon Cup Regatta Point Trophy for the most total points by any club, school, college or university at the 2010 Head Of The Charles. The Crimson heavyweights finished less than two seconds back of Washington in the championship eights. A day earlier, Harvard defeated 41 other boats to win the club eights event, with the heavyweight freshmen placing third.

Harvard crews took third and fourth place in the lightweight eights, while the lightweight four finished ninth.

The Radcliffe heavyweights put four top athletes in the championship fours race and earned a fourth-place finish, less than two seconds behind the pace of third-place Riverside Boat Club.

The Black and White lightweight varsity eight placed third in the women's lightweight eights, finishing more than a half-minute ahead of the fourth-place crew.